Obedience to God
To obey God is to do what He commands
1. The way that we love God is by obeying Him (John 14:19-24). If we aren't growing in obedience, we are not loving God.
2. To obey God, we must obey the written Word and His voice (the Holy Spirit) (Deuteronomy 13:4).
3. But we have to learn to obey the written Word first and foremost (Proverbs 28:9).
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You can't pray and expect to hear from the Holy Spirit if you aren't growing in obeying the Word and repenting from sin (Ezekiel 14:3,6-8).
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The Spirit focuses on telling you to repent from sin, and to remember and obey Scripture (John 16:8, 14:26).
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Don't go to the Spirit looking for special words and plans all the time, nor to “spiritual” people for prophecies. Focus on knowing your sin and turning away from it. This is what the Spirit desires.
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4. Before we can obey, we must understand what the Word is commanding and then understand how to obey what it's commanding (Psalm 119:34, Matthew 13:19). We can't obey God's commands if we don't understand what He's commanding.
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The first half of the kingdom's way is understanding, and the second half is obeying. Many believers are not able to grow in obedience because they do not correctly understand.
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The basics to understand are turning from evil works and doing good works instead:
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1. The first thing to focus on is repenting from apparent sin (evil works) (1 John 3:8, Hebrews 6:1)
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(Matthew 5:17-37 Jesus focuses on sin to turn from)
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2. The second thing is to focus on is growing your knowledge of the Word and obedience to the good works it describes (Hebrews 6:1, 2 Peter 1:5-7).
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(Matthew 5:38-48, 6:1-23 Jesus focuses on good works like generosity and service to others, prayer and fasting, etc—growing in good works).
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- Use the Ten Commandments as a guide for the basics of obedience. Read the Ten Commandments, and find in which one you're most lacking in obedience.